Darker theme heads to Windows Phone users

It's been a battle for Microsoft to increase its Windows Phone market share, which sits at a distant third place behind Android and iOS. By the numbers, only around three out of every 100 smartphones is running Windows Phone, so it's no wonder app developers take their sweet time developing updates. That's also true of Spotify, which just unveiled a refreshed experience for Windows Phone users with what it claims is the best looking version yet.

Can a streaming music service survive without the likes of Taylor Swift and her latest 1989 album? The answer is a resounding 'Yes!' as evidenced by Spotify's latest head count. In a blog post this week, Spotify announced that it's up to 60 million active users, 15 million of which are paid subscribers. The last time Spotify revealed user numbers was in November of last year after Swift decided to yank her music off the service.

Rock out with your Windows Phone or Windows device out

It wouldn't be fair to call Microsoft a Scrooge, not when the company is rolling out a pair of sweet deals for the holiday season, one of which includes 100 free albums. The caveat? You have to be a Windows or Windows Phone user. If you are, you can claim your 100 free albums from Microsoft by installing the company's Music Deals companion app. These aren't crappy albums, either.

YouTube Music Key is a slightly better name than Google Play Music All Access

Google has figured out there's big potential in the streaming music business, it just has a hard time coming up with names that don't roll around the mouth like a fistful of chipped marbles rubbed in hot sauce. By that we mean first there was Google Play Music All Access, and coming soon, Google is getting its YouTube subsidiary into the subscription music game with YouTube Music Key.

Spotify responds to Taylor Swift's decision to yank her albums

Taylor Swift, the country-turned-pop music star decided to pull all of her songs off of Spotify right as she released 1989, her first pop-only album. In doing so, she called the streaming service a "grand experiment" and voiced other disparaging opinions about the service and streaming model in general. In response, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek pulled a Jerry Maguire and showed Swift the money. As in, more than $2 billion.

Rock out with your Windows Phone out, for free!

Sometimes the Windows Phone platform gets forgotten or otherwise overlooked by developers. Such has been the case with Spotify, which has been serving up free tunes to Android and iOS users for some time now, but hadn't extended the same courtesy to Windows Phone. Well, that changes today -- Spotify has finally brought the free mobile music experience to Windows Phone users around the globe.

Copyright infringements results in VODs being muted

Back in May it was rumored that Google was looking to purchase Twitch for $1 billion. While we wait for confirmation on this rumor from either side, Twitch is making some big changes. According to its official blog, Twitch has enabled copyright sweeps and has limited archiving of video content.

We evaluate a collection of media players to find the best one

If we strip away everything else, your choice of car doesn't matter so long as it gets you from Point A to Point B. However, there are all kinds of factors that separate a hot rod from jalopy on wheels, including price, performance, amenities, maintenance, and more. So it goes with media players, which are vehicles for your music and movies.

Like cars, not all media players are created equal. Some are big and bulky, others are lightweight and nimble. If you all you care about is the ability to play your favorite song over and over, just about any media player will do, but why short change yourself? Of course, going through the process of testing them all is a daunting task, so it's understandable if you want to roll the dice with a random selection.

Better yet, get your click (or tap) finger ready and digest our evaluation of some the most popular (and not so popular) media players around. As we go from one selection to the next, we'll tell you what we like and despise about each one, and then pick a winner.

Another day, another hack

Spotify is the latest company to fall prey to a hacker attack and has launched an investigation into the data breach. Based on initial findings, only one person's data has been accessed, and that information didn't include any password, financial, or payment information. Nevertheless, Spotify says it's erring on the side of caution and plans to roll out an updated Android app, which should show up in Google Play and Amazon Appstore over the next several days.

Streaming music service grows its paid membership amid increasing competition

Today is a day of celebration for Spotify, the spunky streaming music service that just crossed the 10 million paid subscriber milestone. Including freeloaders, Spotify is home to more than 40 million active users across 56 markets. That's not too shabby for a service that first launched in 2008, and has only been available in the U.S. since late 2011 (first as an invite-only and then to everyone by the end of September).